Introduce the Weekend Division Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two triumph against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you enhance a stellar experienced team that have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of former pro players that have performed at the top level of club and global soccer as you target more honors.

A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight players in their present lineup.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

Their roster this season includes 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 top-flight appearances.

This high-profile squad also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for the club from 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

"That movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I felt I was a little starstruck facing him to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Samantha Fields
Samantha Fields

A passionate entrepreneur and writer sharing insights on side hustles and personal finance to empower others.